David Neiwert explains why hate crimes are on the rise again in the USA:
— The country is being led by a cadre of thoughtless fearmongers who do not hesitate to wave the bloody shirt of terrorism to silence their critics and stigmatize anyone who acts “different.” The harmful effects of this behavior from our leadership on the general populace is incalculable.
— A particularly shallow brand of patriotism — replete with jingoist sentiments, hatred of The Other, and a hollow symbolism — has been promoted in every possible avenue, from national television broadcasts to the corner drugstore. This kind of thoughtless “Americanism” is an important feature of many hate crimes (including the one Death on the Fourth of July focuses upon) and plays a significant role in forumulating the motivations for this violence.
— Most of all, a fog of intolerance has filtered across the national landscape over the past decade, thanks mostly to right-wing propagandists with massive popular reach: Rush Limbaugh, Michael Weiner (aka Savage), Dr. Laura, Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, and the whole phalanx of their imitators. The thrust of the modern conservative movement has morphed from any sense of real conservative values into a relentless attack on the very notion of tolerance for anyone who is not part of that movement: liberals, gays and lesbians, other faiths, other colors.